


A Matter of Ownership

by frozenCinders



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: M/M, feel free to self insert over the other dude, literally only wrote this so chrollo could have someone to top
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 10:07:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20704211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozenCinders/pseuds/frozenCinders
Summary: The most convenient way for Chrollo to steal an ability is to manage to do so without them noticing. Sometimes, this isn't quite possible. But, well, there are many, many ways to rob someone blind.





	A Matter of Ownership

**Author's Note:**

> Afe is pronounced like the word calf without the c.

Most treasures Chrollo obtains, no matter how far he goes out of his way for them, he sees as fully disposable. Some may see this as a mere insatiable greed, and he can't say that they're wrong, but Chrollo sees it more as simple practicality. If something serves little to no purpose, there's hardly any point in keeping it. Things that are especially useful, however, he will do everything in his power to hoard.

That being said, there are a few people he has stolen abilities from that are aware of the fact that he'd done so. Two of them don't know his true identity, but one of them does. One pesky caveat of Skill Hunter is that the victims of his crimes must stay alive for Chrollo to keep what he took from them. Therefore, he made agreements with all three of them to protect them for as long as he is able. The two who don't know about Chrollo's status as the head of the Spider aren't too needy; they only contact him in emergencies and he'd charmed them enough that they always both apologize and thank him profusely once he's taken care of their issues.

The one that _does_ know who he is, the previous owner of Order Stamp, is spitefully shameless about bothering Chrollo. It was through plain luck that Aferius discovered Chrollo's identity, but the revelation had intimidated him enough into making it easier to steal his ability. There had been a fight between the two of them that Chrollo had to regretfully postpone to help out in an emergency, and Afe had followed him and seen him coming to Kortopi's aid, whose clothes were singed enough to reveal his spider tattoo. If that weren't enough, both Kortopi and Pakunoda openly referred to him the same way they normally do, so it was quite easy to figure out what exactly Chrollo is the "boss" of.

Chrollo made sure he was alone before forcing Afe to confront him. Afe walked into view slowly and Chrollo politely asked him to explain his ability once more, as over an hour had passed. Afe provided another demonstration as he numbly explained it again and gasped audibly when Chrollo slipped by his puppet to stand close behind Afe, holding Bandit's Secret in his view.

"Then, please place your hand here," he said, already knowing Afe didn't have it in him to fight anymore. He hesitantly matched the handprint on the book and Chrollo placed his free hand on Afe's shoulder in an almost comforting gesture as he whisked his ability away.

Afe watched his puppet fall motionless and tried futilely to summon the stamp again. Chrollo summoned it instead and brought the same puppet back to life. He then decided to take pity and explain that it would be in his best interest to keep Afe alive from then on, and he ordered the puppet to carve his phone number into itself.

"For emergencies."

It had taken Afe maybe a month, Chrollo doesn't quite remember, to get over his shell-shock. Then, Chrollo received a short text from an unknown number that confused the hell out of him at the time.

"Fucker," it simply read.

When he found out who sent it, he couldn't help but laugh. He allowed the disrespect to slide, since there wasn't much worse he could do to Afe that he hadn't already accomplished, after all. Unfortunately, Chrollo being so passive with him bolstered a caliginous confidence that he's reasonably certain Afe wasn't even previously capable of. But it's fine. He's grown to consider Afe one of his treasures.

Today, the "emergency" that Afe has decided to pester Chrollo with is that he's craving sweets but doesn't feel like driving to get them. Chrollo tells him to call a taxi. Afe says okay and, one minute later, sends a text saying,

"Hello, taxi?"

Chrollo sighs. His schedule for tonight is clear anyway and he knows Afe doesn't live far from where he's currently staying. He doesn't text him back even as he hotwires a nearby car, though, just to annoy him.

He doesn't bother knocking when he arrives and instead attempts to pick the lock, only to find that it's already unlocked for him. He only takes one step inside before instinct stops him. He looks down and sees, just barely visible, a few drops of blood at his right foot. He quietly closes the door behind him, keeping an eye out for more blood. As expected, there are a few more small drops here and there, and especially on the mat in the bathroom that he glances into as he passes.

The bedroom door is ajar and Chrollo slips in without making a sound. Afe is laying in bed, head turned opposite Chrollo to watch the TV mounted on a small table against the wall. Chrollo grabs the remote from the bed and mutes the TV. Afe barely reacts and takes his time turning his head to face Chrollo. He looks exhausted.

Chrollo grabs the comforter and waits to see whether or not Afe will protest before he peels it away to reveal a shoddily bandaged wound on Afe's thigh. Dried blood crusts his leg from where it had trickled down on more than one occasion, seeing as some of the intermittent trails look fresher than others. Afe just looks at him. There are dark circles under his eyes where there hadn't been any before.

He never does get Afe to explain what happened, and he gives up trying to prompt him by the time he's halfway through treating his injury.

"You didn't even bring me any sweets, did you?" he asks when Chrollo finishes scrubbing the dried blood away.

"You didn't specify what you wanted," Chrollo answers.

There's a pause, and then Afe speaks again.

"I think I almost died today."

That makes Chrollo's movements stop. It's only for a moment, though, before he's back to gingerly drying the area around the wound so he can wrap it up.

"I certainly can't have that," he says. When he looks up from his work, Afe has a look of hunger and longing on his face-- one that isn't necessarily unusual by now, but that Chrollo hasn't seen from him in a while. He thinks Afe became jaded at some point, as the first time was chock full of animosity and was stated to only be because he "deserved something, at least", and Chrollo was only humoring him because he happened to feel like it. Then, Afe must have gotten addicted.

Chrollo sometimes pretends to be oblivious just to rile him up, but he'll indulge him fully this time. He leans forward and kisses him, and Afe immediately grabs Chrollo by the shirt to keep him close. He must know that he doesn't actually love him, right? If not, Chrollo supposes there's no need to spoil it for him.

He helps Afe up and leads him back to the bedroom, almost waltzing with him from the way he has a hand on Afe's waist and the other entwined with Afe's own hand. When they reach the bedroom, Chrollo lets go of Afe's waist and twirls him, sending him spinning towards the bed. This earns him an annoyed groan-- muffled too, because he landed face-first onto the mattress, doubled over it for a bit until he climbs on.

Chrollo smiles, seeing that Afe is a bit livelier now despite his injury. The state he found him in may have just been him being rattled because of the near-death experience he apparently had. The least Chrollo could do is serve as a distraction for a bit, since he has nothing else on his plate at the moment.

"Ah, you wanted me to get you some sweets, didn't you?" Chrollo pretends to have just remembered. Afe, lively indeed, lunges at Chrollo and pulls him down on top of him, the mattress bouncing beneath their combined weight.

"Yeah. After."

His playful smile fades, dissatisfied with Afe's attitude. He really does need a distraction. Unfortunately, Afe isn't quite acting like himself at the moment, which doesn't do it at all for Chrollo.

"Why don't I run that errand first? Some candy should cheer you up." Afe's eyes narrow slightly to a glare. "I'll stay the night after that, I just won't want to go anywhere afterwards is all."

Satisfied albeit reluctant, Afe releases Chrollo and gives him a light shove with the foot of his uninjured leg. Chrollo resists it just to lean down and give Afe a fond kiss on the forehead before pulling back and walking to the door. Before he forgets, he stops at the doorway and asks what Afe wants, but he just gets a noncommittal wave of a hand.

When he returns, Afe is lounging more casually, his mood already having improved a bit. Chrollo sets a still sealed funnel cake piled with powdered sugar on the bedside table and sits on the bed to sift through the bag of candy. He fishes out each different kind to show Afe and Afe immediately goes for the chocolate, holding the bar in his mouth as he pulls the container of funnel cake onto his lap. Chrollo watches him try to eat both at the same time-- barehanded, of course-- and smiles.

"I don't think I've had any sugar at all in five days," he says, already starting to get filled with energy. He blinks in confusion when a strip of his funnel cake suddenly goes missing before assuming the obvious and slapping Chrollo's hand, who laughs and holds the piece out of reach.

"Why didn't you get your own, fucker?" Afe complains, and the fact that he never seems to swear except at Chrollo makes it feel like nothing more than a cute pet name.

"Because I just wanted to steal from you, darling," he taunts, the name very deliberate. The way Afe's eyes reluctantly soften tells Chrollo that, indeed, Afe thinks he loves him. What a shame. At least Chrollo can make good use of that.

He looks at the piece of funnel cake in his hand and then at Afe.

"Feel free to take it back," he offers before biting onto the end of it. Afe reaches with his hand at first but Chrollo swats it away. He frowns and tries again before eventually taking the hint and scooting forward to take the other end in his mouth. He only gets to take that one bite before Chrollo descends on him, ending in a kiss oversaturated with sugar.

Afe's cheeks are starting to get flushed. He picks up another piece of the funnel cake.

"Let me try again," he says, and he takes the end in his mouth like before. Chrollo doesn't keep him waiting, and they end up meeting in the middle this time.

It isn't long before the cake is impatiently placed back on the nightstand and the bag of candy is carelessly shoved aside as Afe decides he'd much rather be devoured than continue eating. Chrollo has no qualms with indulging him.

It was still light out when Chrollo got back with Afe's sweets, but it's pitch black outside by the time he's finally pushing into him, gingerly kissing around the bandages on Afe's thigh as he does so. The excitement might cause it to start bleeding again. Afe will probably delight in the excuse for Chrollo to take care of him once more.

As always, Afe sinks into the bed under Chrollo's ministrations at first, slowly getting more and more clingy as his breath gets quicker. Chrollo doesn't even speed up yet, just fucks him deep and hard because it makes Afe gasp in his ear on every thrust and the way he keeps tightening around him creates a delicious drag. It soon gets too good for him to resist, though, and he increases his pace as slowly and steadily as he can manage, wanting to hear every change in Afe's voice.

Afe grips the base of his cock, stubbornly staving off orgasm because he wants it at the same time as Chrollo. The little display almost feels like devotion, and it tickles Chrollo. Maybe someday Aferius will become jaded enough to steal and kill without remorse. If that day comes, Chrollo will happily place him in reserve for the next time there's a vacancy in the Troupe. Maybe Afe won't pretend to hate him anymore once he has his Order Stamp back.

Chrollo runs a hand up Afe's leg, imagines a spider tattoo splayed delicately on the calf he holds in his hand. A wave of unexpected possessiveness rolls through him and he bites into that calf as he spills inside of Afe with a soft moan into his skin. He hears Afe muttering deliriously as he follows him, his limbs and body alike tightening desperately around Chrollo. He's actually quite strong and Chrollo isn't able to pull away for a bit-- not without exerting effort he just isn't willing to put forth at the moment, at least. He keeps moving, slowly, just enjoying the aftershocks that keep this treasure of his gasping into his ear no matter how oversensitive he must be by now.

Eventually, Afe lets him pull away and is quick to roll out of bed and limp to the bathroom to clean up. Chrollo eyes his leg and doesn't see any blood, so he's content not to follow him. He considers getting up and leaving, because he may have said he would stay but he's nothing if not a liar. He doesn't, though. He lets Afe turn the TV back on and cuddle up to him with a bag of gummies in hand. Chrollo only gets up once, to belatedly clean up and find something to read in the same trip. Afe wasn't much of a reader-- still isn't, most likely-- but he started keeping books around the house once the two of them started sleeping together. Chrollo finds it endearing.

As fun as this can be from time to time, Chrollo is grateful that nobody else he stole an ability from actually knows who he is. He may be an excellent liar and actor, but he doesn't know how much of this he would be able to do, and likely on a regular basis if his attention were to be spread between multiple people. No, just Afe is fine. Just this angel whose wings he fondly tore off to suit his needs, whose laurel crown seems to have mysteriously gone missing, abandoned, as he lets Chrollo idly pet his hair. He wonders if Feitan might be willing to give him the tattoo without a number, just as a symbol of the fact that he belongs to Chrollo.

He always did have a thing for fallen angels.


End file.
